With the use of molecular methods new viruses have been detected in respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts of both patients and asymptomatic subjects in recent years. The clinical importance of these viruses has not been adequately studied.

The aim of this study is to use molecular methods to detect viruses in upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract of children with acute bronchiolitis, acute gastroenteritis and febrile convulsions and to try to correlate the severity of clinical picture with the amount of viruses present in clinical samples. The investigators will also try to detect the increase in specific antibodies in paired sera.

Further study details as provided by University Medical Centre Ljubljana:

Primary Outcome Measures:

To describe the clinical picture of a viral respiratory and/or gastrointestinal infection associated with a specific viral pathogen [ Time Frame: In a 14-day period ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

To correlate the severity of clinical picture with the quantity of virus in clinical samples [ Time Frame: In a 14-day period ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Patients with 3 or more loose or liquid stools in 24 hours prior to entering the study.

Febrile convulsion

Patients with a cerebral paroxysm accompanied by fever without signs of central nervous system infection.

Control group

Patients referred to pediatric surgery for elective surgical procedure - judged to be free of clinical signs and symptoms of infection.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

up to 5 Years

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Sampling Method:

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children under 6 years of age admitted to Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana with a diagnosis of acute bronchiolitis, acute gastroenteritis or febrile convulsion.

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

presence of

acute bronchiolitis

acute gastroenteritis

febrile convulsion requiring hospital admission

Exclusion Criteria:

none

Contacts and Locations

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To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00987519